1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electrical parallel gap welder and, more particularly, to a parallel gap welder with improved control mechanisms for the independent application of a preselected force to each electrode by a single handle which also energizes the electrical circuitry.
2. Description of the Background Art
Welders are in common use today for electrically applying localized thermal energy to a workpiece as during the joining step of a fabrication process. One commonly used type of welder is the electrical parallel gap welder wherein spaced, parallel, independent electrodes are placed in contact with the electrically insulating workpiece components to be joined. The application of an electrical current from one electrode to the other through the workpiece components will effect the welding or joining function.
The quality of the weld on the workpiece is normally determined by the characteristics of the welding machine and the skill of the operator in properly holding the electrodes with respect to the workpiece. Independent, different, predetermined pressures on the irregularly shaped workpiece components by the tips of the two electrodes can result in a superior weld. Normally, however, such different, predetermined pressures are difficult to attain when they are left solely to the skill of an operator. Such applications of forces and the consistency of the welds thus vary among workpieces when various operators are welding. Additionally, activation of the welder by an operator, as well as the resulting welded workpiece, vary as a function of the force applied by the same operator from workpiece to workpiece.
To minimize these problems, designers and manufacturers of welding machines are continuously expending their efforts to devise new techniques for simplifying the operation of welders while improving the precision and consistency of the welds produced thereby. Various approaches are disclosed in the literature to simplify the use of welders while improving the resulting welds in both quality and consistency. Although many advances in the parallel gap welder art are noteworthy to one extent or another, none achieves the objectives of an efficient, accurate, consistent and inexpensive parallel gap welder designed to accommodate the specific needs of specific workpieces to be welded.
An optimum assembly would be something new which combines the benefits of the various prior art objectives without their shortcomings, i.e., a parallel gap welder which provides for the simplicity of operation, with minimum operator training, but which consistently yields accurately welded workpieces independent of both the particular operator and the particular shape of the workpiece.
As illustrated by the literature and the great number of commercial devices, efforts are continuously being made in an attempt to improve parallel gap welders to render them more efficient, accurate, consistent and economical. None of these previous efforts, however, provides the benefits attendant with the present invention. Additionally, prior parallel gap welders do not suggest, teach or disclose the inventive combination of component elements arranged and configured as disclosed and claimed herein. The present invention achieves its intended purposes, objectives and advantages over the prior art devices through a new, useful and unobvious combination of component elements, using a minimum number of functioning parts, at a reasonable cost to manufacture and employing only readily available materials.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention is to provide an apparatus which overcomes the inadequacies of the prior art devices and provides an improvement which is a significant contribution to the advancement of the parallel gap welder art.
Another object of this invention is to provide a parallel gap welder actuated by a single operator controlled handle which brings the electrodes into contact with the workpiece then creates an electrical current flow across the electrodes and through the workpiece to create a weld.
A further object of this invention is to apply accurate, repeatable pressures by the electrodes of a parallel gap welder to the workpiece during welding.
A further object of this invention is to adjust a parallel gap welder as a function of the workpiece to be welded, the adjustment being to each electrode independent of the other electrode.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed as merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be obtained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or by modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.